With less than a week now before the “big day” gets here, we are getting our first indication from the National Weather Service (NWS) of what kind of weather we can expect Christmas Day. Many forecasters with other agencies have already been talking about it but his is the first time the NWS has looked that far ahead.
And what’s the outlook?
Christmas week will start with lows in the 20s and highs in the 40s Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
For Christmas Day, itself, the NWS says for Gainesville and vicinity there’s a 40 percent chance of rain with a low that morning of 38 with an afternoon high of 53. So, there goes any chance of a White Christmas this year.
Do you remember the last one in Georgia? It happened in 2010. And the NWS has put together this remembrance:
A strong storm system moved across the Southeast on Christmas Day: a strong upper level disturbance over the Great Lakes extended south toward the Gulf Coast, and an associated area of low pressure moved across the northern Gulf of Mexico. Precipitation began Christmas Eve, quickly changing from rain to snow across extreme north Georgia. For the rest of north and central Georgia, the changeover occurred from northwest to southeast during the day on Christmas Day as temperatures dropped to near freezing. The highest accumulations occured in the north Georgia mountains, where anywhere between 6 and 8 inches of snow were reported, but even the Atlanta Metro area saw between 1-3 inches – the first measurable snow on Christmas Day since 1881. As the system slowly moved east, snow continued on the 26th resulting in additional accumulations across east central Georgia.
Very cold temperatures moved in behind the system and any moisture on the roads froze overnight Christmas night, causing significant road problems. Strong winds, at times gusting to between 25-35 mph, also spread across the area on the 26th. With high temperatures across most of north Georgia below freezing, wind chills in the single digits were noted throughout the day. Flurries and light snow continued through the 26th for most of the area as the storm system moved up the East Coast.
Totals ranged from .05 to one inch as far south as middle Georgia to 6-7 inches in places such as Ellijay and Blairsville in the mountains. Hall County’s official tally, recorded at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport, was three inches.
(Picture courtesy NWS. Location not listed.)